The Easy Money production values are low all-around but they wouldn't be as noticeable if the characters and tedious story sparked to life. They don't, and it doesn't.

The Borgias is an adequate soap but one that's also rife with missed opportunities.

It's a pretty good introduction but there's no guarantee future episodes will live up to that positive first impression.

Entertaining at times, “Dickinson” surely has some appeal to certain segments of the audience but it’s tonally all over the place to a distracting degree.

It’s difficult to judge The Almighty Johnsons from its pilot episode, but the blend of humor and Norse Gods lore does fit in well with Syfy’s penchant for light, fantasy dramas, but those series also tend to be fairly forgettable.

While no one would put his new show in the 'Frasier' class just yet, it's certainly a cut above the other sitcoms coming your way this week. [4 Mar 1997]

Whether Dietland can sustain the will-Plum-get-caught? story remains to be seen, but early episodes show promise.

Party Down can't decide if it wants to be smart-funny or dumb-funny. Maybe if it does, the party will truly begin.

Filmic in its look and style – the series screams “big budget” – “Jack Ryan” has its exciting moments, and even when there are not explosions on screen, the presence of the always-likeable Mr. Krasinski easily pulls viewers through to the next exciting action set piece.

The first hour of Heroes of Cosplay is fairly interesting as a study of an unusual subculture. But just how many unique stories are there to be mined from the characters introduced?

Cute, light and--most importantly--funny.

The show is intermittently funny but not consistently hilarious, too often going for the low-hanging fruit of old people saying dirty things.

Though I find it boring as can be, my kids enjoy watching YouTube videos of other people playing video games. I suppose “Dead Pixels” might be for those entertainment consumers – and those alone.

HBO's Recount is an entertaining political drama, one in which both Democrats and Republicans get dinged, but the film is clearly sympathetic toward the underdog Democrats.

Depending on your tolerance for edgy humor, 2 Broke Girls ain't broke, but a greater effort by the show's writers to be funny without being overly crude/cruel would help fix it for a broader audience.

It's best not to think of Shameless as a deep, important show. Tune in for the character drama and recognize the characters' anti-social behavior for what it is. There's no shame in that.

If Revenge can curb its more outlandish tendencies, this soap could become a welcome guilty pleasure.

The galling part is how Cohen betrays satire by making it hollow and toothless. "Da Ali G Show" is a sheep in wolf's clothing. [21 Feb 2003]

Through its first three episodes, Castle Rock builds out its world and character relationships thoughtfully and deliberately. Whether it holds up through the entire 10-episode first season remains to be seen, but Castle Rock gets off to a strong, engrossing start.

Some of the plot falls into the No-Good-Can-Come-From-This category, especially Jensen’s cover-up efforts and his willingness to call a truce with Kopus. But mostly The Red Road, written by Aaron Guzikowski (“Contraband,” “Prisoners”), is a thrilling enough, character-driven crime drama that doesn’t shy away from cultural explorations, especially through Ms. Tunie’s Earth Mother character.

Some viewers will be eager to get to more zombies, but the quicker the show does this, the less unique it will be. Episode two moves the plot forward faster--more characters begin to understand what “the infected” are capable of--which will appeal to those craving zombies, but is sure to disappoint anyone wanting this show to shamble its own way.

Bates Motel takes a few episodes to get going as the writers build the world of White Pine Bay, and the story appears poised to really kick into a higher gear with a revelation at the end of the third episode. Up to this point Bates Motel is an OK character drama, but in building the broader world it inhabits the show begins to come into sharper focus.

Bellevue plays like a watered-down version of “The Killing.”

Margulies is an ideal actress to carry off this icy role. Perhaps in the hands of a more deft writer, Canterbury's Law could be the edgy show it aspires to be instead of the common courtroom drama it is.

Overall [it] is more charming than hilarious.

A self-consciously strange series can’t quite settle on a tone. Sometimes absurdly funny, other times a little dull and draggy.

It's possible that Hung will lighten up as time goes on. The weak ending to Sunday's pilot is trite and feels like a half-hearted effort to be uplifting. It doesn't work.

In its pilot, Once Upon a Time succeeds on charm but comes up short on logic.

In a cable universe where antiheroes dominate the scripted drama landscape, there's something reassuring about spending time with characters who, though flawed, usually try to do the right thing.

Beneath that glossy sheen, it seems like it will be a procedural crime show like so many other programs on CBS.

The humor in Other Space is largely of the absurd, what-would-happen-if-we-put-idiots-in-a-serious-space-setting variety. Sometimes the jokes hit, other times it feels like the kind of space opera I filmed with friends while in high school in the late 1980s.

When Atypical keeps its focus on the teen characters, including Sam’s ready-to- leap-to-his-defense younger sister, Casey (an outstanding Brigette Lundy-Paine), the series is at its best if sometimes most familiar. The show turns more annoyingly soapy when it turns to Sam’s father, Doug (Michael Rappaport), and mother, Elsa (Jennifer Jason Leigh).

It’s exhausting to watch Ally put through the wringer and yet also predictable about how she will emerge from the trial.

“The Politician” is sometimes a fun watch, but tonally it’s all over the place. The premiere offers some genuine emotions while episode two leans much harder into dark comedy.

The characters are engaging in their varying degrees of awfulness, and there appears to be plenty of story fodder for years to come.

The show is subtitled, which helps viewers understand the thick accents and British slang, but the whole thing is a bit nihilistic and the characters come across as somewhat debased.

It's more cheekily amusing than hilarious and full of comedy-of-the-uncomfortable moments.

The question becomes will more screen time allow the Big Secret to make sense? That will determine if the whole of Wayward Pines is ultimately worth watching. If nothing else, the first five hours are at turns intriguing, mysterious, engrossing and spooky.

David Alan Grier, star of the new Chocolate News gets points for moxie, but the series fails on too many other counts.

The solution to whodunit ends satisfactorily and in keeping with the book. The leads, though, display little chemistry, and that’s something Jane Austen’s sensibilities would never have allowed.

Overall, it's a mixed bag as Nurse Jackie settles into what will surely be its latter years without its creators at the helm.

Unlike last month's ABC Family misfire "Make It or Break It," 10 Things contains clever dialogue that's rooted in its characters.

After a slow start early in the pilot episode, the pace quickens, turning Condor into a taut, violent, compulsively watchable series for fans of “24”-style thrillers.

After suffering through too many poorly written, dramatically empty episodes of "Star Trek: Voyager," I was dreading the launch of UPN's "Enterprise" precisely because it came from "Voyager" executive producers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. Maybe it's the diminished expectations or maybe they've actually come up with something decent, but tonight's two-hour "Enterprise" premiere is surprisingly satisfying. [26 Sep 2001]

Though the storytelling isn't groundbreaking, the setting is unusual by mainstream TV standards.

Sons of Liberty seems to get the broader strokes of history correct, but viewers who see the devil in the details will howl with laughter.

At times overly earnest, “The Red Line,” written by Chicago playwrights Caitlin Parrish and Erica Weiss and executive produced by Ava DuVernay (“Selma”) and Greg Berlanti (“The Flash”), is imperfect, but its existence demonstrates broadcasters haven’t completely thrown in the towel on quality drama and for that viewers can be grateful.

The Expanse is pure space opera with political and cultural undertones that aren’t always communicated well, but there are compelling enough stories in the foreground that perhaps in time the detailed universe the series attempts to build will become clearer.

There's no question this intriguing, seductive series is set to a slow boil. ... But this series picks up its pace in future episodes. Anyone taken with the dark mystery of "Twin Peaks" or "American Gothic" is advised to stay tuned.

Through the first three episodes of season two, Tyrant continues to suffer its share of problems, most notably failing miserably when it comes to characters making realistic, believable choices. But viewers tuning in for just an engaging soap opera, which it is, may be willing to cut the show some slack.

Animal Kingdom, based on a 2010 Australian film of the same title, won’t be to everyone’s taste, but fans of dark, family criminal enterprise shows (think: “Sons of Anarchy,” “Outsiders”) might be intrigued.

Sabrina isn't designed to appeal to adults, and isn't likely to do so. But if you're looking for family entertainment to watch with your kids, you should be able to sit through Sabrina fairly easily - as long as you don't mind some things that are patently ridiculous. [27 Sept 1996, p.28]

The good news is the fashion competition at the heart of “Making the Cut,” as in “Project Runway,” remains strong. The competitors are mostly serious designers. They’re not gimmicky distractions to be laughed off stage (except maybe one). ... Despite episodes with long-ish running times, “Making the Cut” doesn’t show the judges offering post-runway critiques to every designer, just the top two and bottom two.

Mom is a bit all over the place in its pilot.... The show is at its best when the focus is on Christy and her relationship with her own mother, Bonnie.

The Defenders is a standard-issue legal drama, but Mr. Belushi and Mr. O'Connell bring a playful exuberance to their roles that allows the series to rise above its trappings.

On paper, this show sounds dreadful, but it rises above its premise largely thanks to Goggins.

Enlisted is often still funny and the bond among the brothers is sweet without getting too cloying.

The River lacks the sophistication of "Lost" but its formula is more flexible than recent Fox addition "Alcatraz."

While Ms. Alexander is an appealing lead actress, Blindspot feels like a too familiar, warmed-over series premise even though it’s the only “original” series concept among the three thrillers debuting in the next two days.

While it isn’t as culturally significant as, say, Mr. Peele’s “Get Out,” “The Last O.G.” is genuinely funny and transfers Mr. Morgan’s skills from co-star to lead far more successfully than his short-lived NBC 2003-04 sitcom, “The Tracy Morgan Show,” ever did.

In its second half the Ballers pilot finds its footing and the show’s trajectory becomes clear, playing like an entertaining mix of HBO’s “Entourage” and “Arli$$” and Starz’s “Survivor’s Remorse.”

It's not groundbreaking TV, but the pilot does a good job of introducing the characters, their relationships, their potential relationships.

[Jimmy (Chris Geere) and Gretchen (Aya Cash) are] both terrible people in a myriad ways, and yet, they really seem to connect, which allows “You’re the Worst” to evince an acidic sweetness through its bleakness.

A pleasant surprise. [26 Jun 2003]

Prime Suspect improves as the hour goes on. The guys' attitude toward Jane evolves.

Hung remains less of a comedy than HBO presents it as, but it's certainly more platable in season two.

As long as you're OK with comedy-of-the-uncomfortable, then IFC's The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret is by far the funnier of the two David Cross-Will Arnett series airing this fall (the other being Fox's "Running Wilde").

The show's premise has enormous potential--it's essentially a live-action version of "The Incredibles," about a family that gains superpowers--but Tuesday's premiere disappoints with its slow-moving plot and whiny characters.

Viewers who don't mind being dragged along for a ride, who are gluttons for punishment ("X-Files" faithful, perhaps), may want to join in John Doe's search. For the rest of us, Doe will remain the personification of an unsolved mystery. [20 Sept 2002, p.40]

The premise, though bold, isn't as revolutionary as the "24" format, and the pilot is seriously lacking in thrills for an alleged thriller.

Tries too hard to be tough, but fans of crime dramas might get hooked anyway. [12 Jun 2005]

Surviving Jack allows for a smidgen of heartfelt earnestness now and again, but it’s less heartwarming than the steadily-improving “The Goldbergs” because at heart Surviving Jack is the one-joke premise of its title: My dad’s a jerk.

Gleefully absurd and filled with terrific comic performances--Wiig and Rudolph are stand-outs in the first two episodes--The Spoils Before Dying marks another winning offbeat comedy from IFC.

Humor is woven throughout The Dead Zone, particularly in scenes between Smith and his physical therapist, Bruce Lewis (John L. Adams), who helps update him on what happened during his long sleep. [16 June 2002, p.TV-5]

Smart, thrilling and politically timely, "Sleeper Cell" works overtime to mix believable character drama with jolts of surprising plot twists.

The show is energizing and a fun thrill ride in its first hour until Letty falls off the wagon. Then it just turns depressing, meandering down a dark road that’s in keeping with TNT’s new aesthetic, but a bit too far out of step with how Good Behavior plays until that point.

While there may still be doubts about the sustainability of The Leftovers, it clearly seems to be moving in a positive direction creatively even as the show’s overall tone grows more pessimistic.

Timeless is not serious, thoughtful TV. But it is well-produced, escapist fun that gives each of the lead characters some story engine baggage, especially the show’s lead, Lucy.

Other than Hailey and Happy all the characters are a different shade of terrible, which gets kind of boring unless you’re tuning in only for the fight scenes that invariably end in bloodbaths.

In its first hour, at least, Major Crimes appears to be making a pretty seamless transition.

The obvious, soapy stories plod along at a too-languid pace, leaving talented actors in their wake.

It's more an intellectual, in your head, "hey, that's clever," than a laugh-out-loud funny.

With the exception of some added F-bombs, Goliath plays like a reasonably decent prime-time legal mystery circa 1998, not a modern drama revelation.

While it's hard to imagine that the show won't continue if it's a hit, Sunday's premiere marks an inauspicious debut that ignores the sound advice given to all writers: show, don't tell.

For fans of "Mad Men," Trust Me offers a modern, more recognizable ad agency world but the tone of TNT's series is completely different. It is not "Mad Men: The Next Generation," not by a long shot. And the show's quality lags leaps and bounds behind.

In its first two episodes, AHS returns as a creepy, spooky jolt of unpredictable storytelling.

The pilot episode of FX’s new dark comedy “Breeders” will be instantly relatable to anyone who’s ever parented young children. ... Subsequent episodes draw focus away from Paul and Allie and their children and expand to include more attention on Paul’s elderly parents and the addition of actor Michael McKean as Allie’s unambitious American father. None of this is bad per se, just not as funny as what’s established in the premiere.

In its first two episodes, Playing House does a nice job slowly building out its world and introducing an assortment of amusing, oddball characters.

There's nothing wrong with TV Land trying to revive the old-school, multi-camera sitcom but the pilot for this show wouldn't have cut it in the 1980s.

Producers Barney Rosenzweig and Ken Wales have graced their show with beautiful locations, poetic scripts and very good actors, particularly among the women. [3 Apr 1994]

“For All Mankind” continues to improve in subsequent episodes, propelled in part by an inspiring theme score by Jeff Russo (“Fargo”).

By no means a great show, The Bridge is at least a little bit different from most police procedurals.

Roth's Lightman is not nearly the curmudgeon Dr. House (Hugh Laurie) is, nor is he as entertaining, but Lie to Me has the makings of a fine procedural for viewers who can't seem to get enough of this type of series.

There's an appeal to the gentle spirit of Derek but it would have a stronger pull if the plotting was less dull.

As long as CBS's Dave's World' tonight's TV transcription of columnist's Dave Barry's life, sticks with Dave's family, it pretty much hits on all cylinders...Unfortunately, Dave's world extends beyond his family unit, and that's when things get tricky. [20 Sept 1993, p.C7]

Three episodes in, this season three reboot offers some hope but. ... The problem: when nothing in “Westworld” is reliably real, there’s little for viewers to cling to, which makes the entire enterprise more exasperating than cleverly twisty drama.

It's a cute show, but the premise is so paper-thin you have to wonder how the writers will sustain "Knights" for a full season, let alone many years, if successful.

Tonight's extended episode--it runs until 11:15 p.m.--comes off as the trashier, less sophisticated cousin to "Project Runway." If that's the appeal of "Runway," then have at it. But if you're a design fan, The Fashion Show may prove to be an unfashionable disappointment.